Living in the woods, with NO electricity or running water, may be all the business training you need

That's what Roxanne Quimby says.... That's how she got her entrepreneurial skills....

Just as Tom Hanks learned the skills for island survival in Castaway, the instinct for survival she honed by living in the woods was all she needed to shine as an entrepreneur, with her fast-growing business Burt's Bees....

She turned her self-taught proficiency with natural products into a rapidly growing business!

Read Roxanne Quimby's inspiring story below.... :)

- Dien


Survival skills in the woods OR the URBAN jungle....

> That's what Roxanne Quimby says.... That's
> how she got her entrepreneurial skills....

Great story, Dien.

I believe that Bill Myers spent some time living in a tent in the Arkansas woods just before he made his entrepreneurial entrance into product development, direct mail and later the internet.

When your pockets are empty, and your back is against the wall, the self-preservation instinct can produce some interesting outcomes...

JDB

Hi JDB,

> I believe that Bill Myers spent some time
> living in a tent in the Arkansas woods just
> before he made his entrepreneurial entrance
> into product development, direct mail and
> later the internet.

Yes, I remember reading that story too.... I wonder if it was a turning point for Bill Myers in his entrepreneurial life? I wouldn't be surprised if it was!

I really think of business acumen as a kind of "urban survival skill".... Just as if you were stuck on a deserted island, or if you were lost in the woods, you'd have to survive by living from your surroundings, similarly if you don't have the "security" of a regular job-based paycheck, you must survive by living from your urban environment....

Thanks to Gordon and chatteling I think I have the guts of these "survival skills" now, so now I'm trying to hone them better and better.... :) (I've also learned from the things you've shared too, JDB, and so many others on Sowpub and elsewhere.... :) )

> When your pockets are empty, and your back
> is against the wall, the self-preservation
> instinct can produce some interesting
> outcomes...

Yes!

Actually, it's interesting you mention this.... The past few days, I've met a very interesting person, through doing a large-ish "chattel"-type deal....

This lady is someone who has developed her own products and successfully sold them. She lives outside of the metropolitan area, on her own large property....

Several years ago she developed her own line of herbal products, because she was unhappy with several of the products which were available on the market. She came up with a herbal pet flea collar, a herbal insect repellant, and other products too, and she was distributing these products to the supermarkets! Then she sold the business....

Now, she's recently developed a whole new line of products, around vegan (no animal products) pet food. She told me it's taken her about 2 years to develop, testing it on her own dogs, and apparently she's even managed to get some university testing done (regarding its nutrition).

She's already got various "animal liberation" types pressuring her to hurry up and get it to market, because they want to buy it themselves! Now that's a way to sell a product, have a market that's beating down your door to get it.... :)

She's an incredible person, I'm really happy to have met her. To me, she's the type of business-person I really admire -- she has a lot of integrity, and is truly doing what she believes in. Because of that, she really has PASSION!

One interesting thing she told me is that the main thing which motivates her is when she gets angry at something.... She doesn't sit around and do nothing, but she does something to fix it! Sometimes that "doing something" means developing a whole new product line.... :)

This lady reminded me of what I've read about Anita Roddick, the founder of the "Body Shop" chain of stores.... Both of them are motivated in their business by their desire to improve the world in some way....

Wow, she's really inspired me.... :)

- Dien